Hawksley Workman’s concerts have always had an element of theatre, but until now they haven’t been as theatrical as say, a Greek tragedy.

The two-time Juno-award winner’s latest work, The God that Comes (which opens at the Cultch Nov. 13) is a contemporary cabaret take on The Bacchae, inspired by his frustrations with the Canadian political scene.

“I had a lot of anger about current Canadian politics and I didn’t know what to do with it because sometimes when anger is your motivation it can create a lot of ugliness in what you’re making,” Workman said. “The story about this angry king with his absolutist ways felt very timely. I felt like it was something I could direct my anger into and it’s not going to come out as a hate burst.”

Speaking from Calgary while he was in the middle of helping his brother move, Workman says the show explores the story of a kingdom that rebels against their corrupt king by choosing to worship Bacchus — a.k.a. Dionysus, the god of wine and good times. To get into the spirit of the show, audiences are encouraged to eat, drink and make merry.

“We create this opportunity together to lower the lights, to talk a little bit dirty, to have some wine, to have maybe a little bit too much wine, to have that release that we humans are told more and more that we need to deny ourselves in order to contain some sort of elusive moral righteousness.”

Despite being new to theatre Workman isn’t new to theatricality.

“I had costume changes on stage. I went out of my way to be a little bit more theatrical. There were years where I did that but after reading reviews that were more about my raucous behaviour or what I was wearing I decided to trim that stuff away to focus on the music. I guess that theatrical desire has always lived in me,” says Workman. “In a way I’ve been able to take that love I have of being theatrical and put it into a piece of theatre.”

Halifax director Christian Barry, who’s credited with conceiving and directing The God That Comes, has wanted to create a proper theatre piece for Workman for a decade.

“He’d been kinda seeing me play back in those early days during my solo career and was looking to build a project. But it took about ten years for it to feel like the right time,” Workman said.

For fans who have any or all of Workman’s fourteen albums, the show should come with a disclaimer that this is a play, not a concert — so don’t expect your favourite tunes. And yes, he really is riffing on Euripides.

“I don’t play any songs from any of my records. It’s not like, ‘Hey, there’s a little theatre thing plus all the songs you’ve heard throughout the years.’”

Produced by Halifax’s 2b theatre company, the 75-minute show previewed in Toronto and Victoria before hitting the road with runs in Halifax, Calgary, Denmark and Holland. After Vancouver, Workman’s taking his personal Bacchanalia to Edmonton before heading homeward to Ontario.

While he’s offstage in Vancouver Workman is likely to be in the recording studio. The success of a single he released with Ryan Dahle (Limblifter) and Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat) under the name Mounties has prompted the trio to record a full album.

And he’s loving the luxury of spending two weeks performing in the same space. “For a rock ‘n’ roll guy approaching theatre in all its conventions is very interesting. I’m used to setting up, playing one show, tearing it down, getting in a vehicle, travelling, so every day we’re somewhere new. It’s a beautiful thing to have the show set up and you just grow in the space that you’re in. What everyone living in the theatre takes for granted is such a different animal from rock ‘n’ roll, despite the fact we’re basically doing the same things.”

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Hawksley Workman channels Bacchus in rock ‘n’ roll cabaret

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